St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-28
from the gospel of the day, the first
Sunday of Advent.


And there will be signs in the sun, and
moon and stars; and on the earth distress of
nations by reason of the confusion of the
sound of the sea and of the waves, men with
ering away for fear and expectation of the
things which are coming upon the world
For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
5And then they will see the Son of Man COM
ing on cloud with great power and mai
esty. :. Heaven and earth shall pass
away. but my words will not pass away.
+ The gospel of the day describes the
signs Immediately preceding the day of
general judgment. That we must all
render an account to the Creator after
death is one of the fundamental truths
5of religion. The same Scripture that
teaches us there is God teaches us
also that there is a supreme Judge. This
principle is so cOnformable to human
reason, that we find it established every
where in all nations and in all religions.
Justice requires that virtue should re-
sceive its reward and vice its punish
ment. In this world we know the very
opposite of this often occurs. The I'M
piOuS live in luxury and ease, while the
good are allowed to suffer. Human
reason, taking cOgniZance of this fact,
naturally looks ahead to some time
when all these things will be made
right. 1t throws aside the mystic veil
separating life and death, revealing to
us two judgments, one which occurs I'M
mediately after death, and the other
when the world is wiped out of
existence. In one, the soul
is separated from the body in the other
the body and soul are united; Those
two judgments differ only in sOlemnity.
both by the same judge. ut is ap-
pointed for all men once to die, and
after death the judgment" The eternal
Creator has fixed the decree, and moth
ing can withstand it. OF all who have
died there are none that have not been
stopped at the threshold to render an
account of their works. The day
will come when death will visit
US, and woe to us if it finds US in sin, if
we are stepped in iniquity. The judge
who passes sentence on US will no longer
be the loving Savior, He will the stern
and unrelenting judge; and if the pris-
Oner trembles awaiting the sentence of
death, what shall be our feelings
AT THE DREAD MOMENT
of general judgment. In this life there
is always some hope. The judge some
times SuSpendS sentence, but before the
tribunal of God we may expect nothing
but rigorous Judgment. There are we
judged according as we have lived.
The particular judgment takes place
Immediately after death, and when
our friends are still weeping
over our lifeless bodies, our souls
are awaiting the sentence that
doOms us forever This sentence will
also be repeated at the end of the world.
The moment of death Is the most inn
pOrtant of our existence. for we then
stand facing two eternitieS-an eternity
of bliss and an eternity of misery.
But this is not all. As on the death of
an individual, follows the particular
judgment, so on the death of the world
follows general Judgment. Every hui
man being is both an individual and
part of the human race, therefore there
is due him this twO-fOld judgment. 1t
is as a social being that he is subject to
this general judgment, and this general
Judgment cannot take place before the
end of the world. When man dies all
does not die with him. His memory,
fame and example live after hun. The
good or evil that one does may live on
for all time, therefore is general judg
ment required, that these things may be
summoned up either to our advantage or
disadvantage. This general Judgment
is absolutely necessary and Scripture
tells us it is the day of our Lord. All
other days are the days of man. On the
day of general judgment, He shall rise
as from sleep to revenge his cause. Ven
geance in man is cruel, because it is
carried Gil i'll passion; in God, it is holy,
because it is carried on by equity.
God has fOrewarned us of the fearful
ness of the last day and has sent us men,
from time to time. to tell us of its ter
fors. st. Luke tells us that there will
be signs in the sun, moon and stars;
and on the earth, distress of nations,
men whitening away for fear. and
expectation of the things which are
coming upon the world. All these ex-
ternal signs are but the preliminaries.
Afterwards the Son of Man will be
seen coming on cloud, with great
power and majesty. and He will send
his angels with trumpet and a great
voice. They will gather together His
elect from the four winds. We are told
that when God pronounced the ten coin
mandments the people were appalled,
with fear; that
ANANAIAS FELL DEAD
on hearing the voice of st. Peter; that
when the multitude went out to appre-
bend our Lord in the garden, they reeled
back terror-Stricken when He said: 81
am here" Ii these things be so, how
much greater will our fear be when He
turns on us with fierce looks, and says:
Il am He whom ye deSpiSed." Shall
we not have reason to fear if we shall
be among those unfOrtunates who shall
be calling on the mountains to fall and
bury them from sight? We cannot hope
for God to exercise his mercy
on the day of judgment. He
solemnly swears He will not. God is
merciful in time. Can we fly to our
Savior and ask Him to intercede for us?
Alas, it is too late He comes to
vindicate His Fathers cause, and
though once so lovable and kind
now he is cold and stern. And the
saints. Can we call on them? Alas,
too late. During life we had whole
army of saints to have recourse to. But
this. as well as penance and mOrtiiica-
ton of self, have no effect after DEATH
For all men must be manifested before
the Judgment seat of Christ. From the
first sin of Adam to the last sin of the
world. all shall be revealed.
All our innocent secrets, all our in
trigues, all the scandalOus habits of old
age shall be judged. What, indeed,
shall be our shame and confusion when
these things are made manifest before
all the world? These judgments are
inevitable. And just so sure as God
exists, so surely follows the particular
Judgment Immediately after death and
the general Judgment OH the last day.
However, to the last moment of our
lives we have still time to repent. Il
desire not the death CT sinner saith
the Lord, ''but rather that he should
live and repent" What shall cause us
pain is this, that salvation was so easy
and we neglected it. Let us then arise
from sleep; let us listen to the word of
God before it is too late. 1t lies with
ourselves which sentence shall be pro-